Copyright indiatimes
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has addressed concerns about AI-related layoffs that have affected workers and drawn attention from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Solomon says that he does not expect AI to trigger widespread job losses, arguing the economy will adapt to technological change as it has in the past, adding that the technological disruption is normal.“There will be disruption. But I’m a big believer that our economy is very nimble, very flexible. And when you look at the technology that has flooded over hundreds of years into our society, we adapt,” Solomon said in an interview with CNN.“We find new businesses. We find new jobs. I don't believe it will be different this time,” he added.Solomon said corporate AI implementation may reduce white-collar jobs, but these positions will emerge elsewhere in the economy while noting that AI adoption could have mixed effects on economic growth.While Solomon has not called the recent AI market activity a "bubble," he warned that not all companies will succeed during this technological transition, similar to previous waves of technological change.“The technology is exciting—there should be a lot of enthusiasm for it. But there will be bumps along the way, too," Solomon said.AI-related layoffs by Amazon, Microsoft and other tech giantsSeveral major tech companies have cut jobs while implementing AI systems. Amazon eliminated 14,000 positions last week. During the quarterly earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy said the cuts were “not even really AI-driven, not right now at least.” However, Jassy said earlier this year that Amazon will need fewer employees in the future due to AI efficiency gains.Meta cut 600 jobs in its AI division. Salesforce eliminated thousands of customer service positions and replaced them with AI agents. Microsoft cut 9,000 jobs earlier this year. CEO Satya Nadella said the company will hire again but “with a lot more leverage than the headcount we had pre-AI.”A Goldman Sachs survey of investment bankers last week found 11% of clients are actively cutting jobs because of AI. The survey covered clients across real estate, technology and finance sectors. The same survey found increasing AI adoption in core business operations, a report by Fortune noted.
